1985 Document Opens a Window To Alito's Views

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: November 15, 2005

Applying for a promotion in the Reagan administration 20 years ago, Samuel A. Alito Jr. described himself as a thoroughgoing conservative ''particularly proud'' of contributing to cases arguing ''that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion.''

The job application, disclosed on Monday by the White House and first reported by The Washington Times, provides a new window into the deeply conservative roots of the legal views held at the time by Judge Alito, now a Supreme Court nominee.

Although his views may have changed, any hint of Judge Alito's legal philosophy is of keen interest to partisans on both sides of the debate over his nomination because he would succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the swing vote on abortion rights and other social issues.

And his opinions as an appeals court judge often adhere so closely to precedents that they seldom reveal his views.

''I am and always have been a conservative,'' Judge Alito wrote, citing William F. Buckley Jr.'s magazine National Review, Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign and strong disagreement with the liberal Warren Court as formative influences on his views.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold confirmation hearings in January, seized on the application as evidence that Judge Alito, who sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, would take an ideological agenda to the bench.

Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the document showed ''an eager and early partisan in the ranks of ideological activists in his party's extreme right wing.''

And Mr. Leahy said some of the statements -- including an objection to Warren Court rulings that prohibited states from maintaining election districts that diluted minority representation -- raised questions about Judge Alito's commitment to the principle of one person one vote.

Two other Democrats on the committee, Senators Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Charles E. Schumer of New York, said the strong statements obligated Judge Alito to explain his legal views on abortion rights cases and other controversial issues. Previous nominees for the Supreme Court have refused to answer such questions to avoid the appearance of prejudgments.

''Here, unfortunately, the memo itself creates the perception of bias,'' Mr. Schumer said, ''and it will be crucial for this nominee to address the issue head on.''

Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the White House, said Judge Alito should be evaluated on the basis of his 15 years of decisions as a federal appeals court judge, ''not personal beliefs expressed in a memo before he became a federal judge.'' His record ''shows a clear and consistent pattern of modesty, respect for precedent and judicial restraint,'' Mr. Schmidt said.

Senator John Cornyn, a Texas Republican on the Judiciary Committee who opposes abortion rights, said, ''I'm not sure it is news that Judge Alito is pro-life, nor that Roe v. Wade was poorly reasoned.''

Still, Mr. Cornyn said Judge Alito's track record on the appeals court demonstrated that he could put aside his personal views, including on the question of abortion rights. ''I have every confidence he will continue do so if he is confirmed to the United States Supreme Court,'' he said.

Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican who is a supporter of abortion rights and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said the disclosure was more reason to question Judge Alito closely on how he would value the precedents upholding abortion rights. Mr. Specter said Judge Alito's views might have changed as the Supreme Court affirmed such rights several times since 1985 and the decisions became ''embedded deep in the culture of the country.''

Still, he added, ''the plot thickens every day.''

Two other Republican senators who support abortion rights, Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine, expressed sharp concerns about the statement.

In his 1985 application -- a successful appeal for promotion from assistant to the solicitor general to deputy assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese III in the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department Judge Alito described a commitment to conservative legal views that he said he arrived at in college a dozen years before.

Unlike memorandums from Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.'s work for the Reagan administration released during his confirmation, Judge Alito's application describes only his personal views, not those of his employer.

''In the field of law, I disagree strenuously with the usurpation by the judiciary of decision-making authority that should be exercised by the branches of government responsible to the electorate,'' he wrote.

''In college, I developed a deep interest in constitutional law, motivated in large part by disagreement with the Warren Court decisions,'' Judge Alito wrote. He singled out that court's decisions in matters of criminal procedure, the separation of church and state, and the reapportionment of state voting districts to ensure minority groups were equally represented.

Judge Alito wrote that he believed ''very strongly'' in limited government, federalism and ''the legitimacy of a government role in protecting traditional values.''

Judge Alito wrote that he was ''a life-long registered Republican'' who had contributed to the National Conservative Political Action Committee, a pillar of the political movement that grew out of the Goldwater campaign.

The statement says that he was also a member of Concerned Alumni of Princeton, a conservative group that published a magazine criticizing Princeton's minority admissions, permissive social norms and secular atmosphere.

Judge Alito also said that within the previous year he had submitted articles for publication in the conservative magazines National Review and American Spectator. Neither could find his submissions.